Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-04-12

daylight, and as many more, it is thought,
have been apprehended at other points.
The prisoners are all employees of the Pan
Handle railroad and they have been OpcE-
ating for several years. Mr.. Hampton
said these robberies have been carried on
systematically for several years. The
company have been long aware that there
was leakage somewhere, and as early as
1856 they quietly commenced
Detectives were placed on
the trains where the goods could lie watch
ell and
THETHIEYES CAUGHT.
1--WE had already discovered that the
culprits were employees of the company.
In September there were eighty crews of
freight trains on the Panhandle railroad
coming into Pittsburg. of these eighty
crews no less than seyenty-fve were found
to be crooked. A crew consists OF q con-
duCtor or ilagman and two brakemen. In
some cases all the men were involved, in
others only part. The statement that
engineers and tiremen were mixed up in
the rObberies is wrong. Not single one
is involved The goods were obtained by
the thieves in various ways. In many
instances the seals were broken while
in others hatchets were used TO cut a hole in
the end of the car, through which the meu
crawled and took what they could; then
they reported the car in bad condition,
claiming that the hole had been made by
accident. The operations were all the re-
suit of combination.
WERE CAREFULLY MADE
and each rascal was assigned to his part OF
the work, in much the same way Il bank
robbery is conducted by professional
| do not know that the mem
bers of the company were Oath-bOund or
anything of that kind, but it is certain that
a thorough understanding is among them
and they acted in concert to cover each 9TH
er's miSdoings A thing which alarmed us
more than anything else was that they
stole large quantities of whisky and drank
il in the cabOOses. They needed vessels
to hold the liquor 80 they stole milk cans
and kept it in them. Not daring to keep
whisky openly in the ears, they tore up
the flooring and hid it underneath. Men
were continually reported drunk on duty,
and the probabilities Of disaster was some
thing irightful to contemplate. All kinds
of goods were stolen, including sewing
machines, guns, revOlvers, cutlery, silver
ware, cigars, clothing, liquor, fur
niture, and, in fact, every I'M
aginable article that can be carried
were quietly removed. The depredatiOns
were committed all along the road and the
losers reside Mt points rs far west as Den
yer. Fences were established in this city
where the stolen property was taken and
then sold and the money being evenly di-
yided among them. 1t is impossible to
give the aggregate value of the property
stolen but it will not reach 5000, 900 rs re-
ported.
THE ARRESTS
have created the greatest excitement among
the railroad employees of this city. The
scene about the Jail doors this morning,
where relatives of the prisoners had gath
cred to learn the facts of the arrests, were
of the saddest description. Wives, chill
dren, parents, brothers and sisters, with
tear-stained faces, stood around the en-
trance to the prison eager to hear the latest
developments, and pleading with officers
for admission TO the Jail to see the prison
ers. At O'Clock ten more arrests were re-
ported. They were captured at the pay car,
while receiving their wages. This makes
a total OF tifty-six now in Jail here, and 1t
is supposed that rs many more have been
apprenended at other points along the line.
CONSERVATION prevails among the propri-
etors of the fences" and dens where goods
were secreted and sold. In one instance
the proprietor of a notorious den was de
tected in the act of burying the stolen
property received. From. telegram just
received from Dennison, Ohio, j. K. Dun
lap, the leader OF the gang, was arrested
there this morning.
THE MOST IMPORTANT ARREST
made here was Brakeman Young. lie
called at the Jail to see one of the prison
ers this morning, and was Immediately
locked up. At first he protested that he
was innocent, but finally admitted that
he had a large lot of the stolen property
nc his home, and told how the goods had
come into his possession. His confession
will, il is said, convict thirteen crews
Telegrams from Cadiz, Steubenyille and
points west of Columbus report the arrest
of large number of railroad employees i'm
plicated in the robberies. The prelimi
nary hearing will be held on April 18th.
AT THE PANHANDLE YARDS.
There was a scene of quietneSs in th'
Panhandle yards this morning that indi
Gated that something unusual had hap
pened where there is usually a scene o.
noisy hustle.
The crews of men that had been arrest
ed had left a large number of trains de
serted. There were twenty-four Of thest
trains piled closely together on the sid,
tracks in the yards. The detention o
freight, however, was only temporary
The railroad officers had taken special pre-
cautions to continue moving their freigh
promptly. An extra force of sixty mel
had been employed. These were put ol
the deserted trains in place of the arreste'
smnloyes. When il became general,
known that large number of men hat
been arrested, applicants for position
commenced to flock to the depot by tn
score.
At the far end of the Union Station
stood the pay car as to-day is the day tha
the employees on the Pittsburg end Of tn
road receive their months salaries.
A large number of the employees wer
congregated about the car waiting for thei
checks. Their conversation was devote'
entirely to the wholesale arrests that wer
being made. They were composed Of mel
who were not under suspicion. A numbe
of them spoken to said that they had no
the slightest suspicion until this morning
that such gang of robbers had been il
their midst.
THE DARING TRAIN ROBBERY AT sHERI
DAN STATION
two months agO, which was published il
detail, was recalled. 1t win be remem